Community crisis: NM community struggles with spike in teen suicides

ALYSA LANDRY

Sunday

May 30, 2010 at 12:01 AM

THOREAU, N.M. - Fourteen-year-old Miya Talamante's voice doesn't waver as she speaks about the suicide death of her friend's sister. The teen victim, who allegedly hanged herself with a lamp cord in March, was the first of five Thoreau youths ranging in age from 13 to 16 to take their own lives during the last two months.

"I was a little freaked out because we know about this, because we have to face the real things here," said Talamante, who greeted visitors to the Navajo community May 12 with this question: "Are you here to find out what's happening to the kids?"

The most recent suicide came May 13, the day after the Thoreau Chapter hosted a community meeting to address the tragedies. The deaths have opened a wound in this small community near the junction of I-40 and NM 371 about 100 miles south of Farmington, but for many residents, they are another reminder that violence here is a way of life.

"Sometimes we have problems," Talamante said. "Some of my friends are gang members, and I have friends who are on drugs."

The teen, who first learned about drugs at age 7 when her brothers started using, was offered drugs at age 10.

"It was a little scary at first," she said. "They offered it to me, but I rejected it."

Gangs, drug activity and domestic violence issues run rampant in this community of about 1,500 residents, which also is the hometown of Navajo Vice President Ben Shelly. The proximity to two main thoroughfares and the perceived safe haven of the reservation contribute to a level of crime and violence that has caught the attention of tribal and federal judicial systems.

"We need to start dealing with alcohol regulation, drug regulation," Shelly said during a phone interview. "We also need stricter laws on the Nation. People come here because they know we don't have the laws to prosecute them. That has to change."

Meetings are held monthly in Thoreau to update residents on changes they can expect in accordance with a two-year $150,000 federal Department of Justice grant.

"We will restore this community to a state where violence is no longer tolerated," said Ronald Lopez, law enforcement coordinator with the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Mexico. "Crime will no longer be the driving force of the community."

Among the issues plaguing Thoreau and surrounding areas is a population of violent felons who think they can hide out on the reservation, Lopez said. The two-year Safe Neighborhood project, which began in October, also includes measures to prosecute criminals found in possession of weapons under federal, state or tribal laws, depending on where those laws are the toughest.

"This should send a chill down the spine of criminals who think they can hide out on the reservation," Lopez said. "They're going to be targeted, they will be picked up and they will be prosecuted."

Since October, law enforcement, including several undercover officers, have conducted four sweeps, said Sgt. Wallace Billie, of the Navajo Police Drug and Gang Enforcement Unit. Officers arrested 350 violent felons during those sweeps, he said.

The Thoreau Chapter asked the U.S. Attorney's Office, which is overseeing the grant, also to target domestic violence, Lopez said.

"What's unique about this grant is that the community wanted us to focus on domestic violence," he said. "Domestic violence, as we know, is related to substance abuse. The Department of Justice approved the grant, so we're doing our best to beat this."

The U.S. Attorney's Office, as the prosecuting party, is working closely with Navajo police, the FBI, state police, the McKinley County Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Marshals to serve warrants on and off tribal land to ensure all criminals are targeted.

The clean-up efforts are part of a pilot program on Indian land, Lopez said. Officials hope to use the same methods to clean up other border towns, including Farmington.

"Whatever we learn, we're keeping records," he said. "The coordination has been improving with each operation. The community is coming out more. It's catching on. We're going to learn a lot from this, and the Department of Justice and other departments and agencies can apply our best practices."

The chapter also is reaching out to its youth, Chapter President Valerie Vigil said. The community supports four schools, and the recent suicides have shattered the close community, she said.

"For years and years we didn't have this kind of thing," Vigil said. "This is abnormal. We're shocked as a community."

Although strangers pass through the border town on a regular basis, Vigil said the residents are tight.

"We're right in the middle of Gallup and Grants," she said. "There are lots of people coming through here, seeking safe haven. That's not what the community is. It's a quiet town where everyone knows everyone."

News of the first suicide spread quickly through the town, Talamante said. As additional youths took their own lives, a sort of numbness settled over the town.

The news also reached Shelly's office in the Window Rock, Ariz., capital of the Navajo Nation.

"I feel sad about what is happening in Thoreau," Shelly said. "There's gangs, there's drugs and alcohol, it all relates, but we need to open our doors and give these young people some hope."

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